Happy Friday Weckie Families!!
Welcome back to the Blog... I honestly did not realize it had been so long! Time / Days are flying by over here!! It has been a great last couple of weeks as we have returned to school and gotten back into the routine of things after Winter Break!
Phonics:
In Phonics we wrapped up our unit of study with some time spent reviewing rhyming words. So often if we know one word (such as: night) we forget that we also know many other words (sight, light, fright, tight, etc.) that we come upon in books! We then moved into our new unit of phonics which aligns nicely with our non-fiction reading and non-fiction writing. We have spent the last few days learning to methodically break words apart (most often by syllable) to help us piece together the sounds within tricky or challenging words.
Readers' Workshop:
In Readers' Workshop we began our look into non-fiction reading! Each week our readers "shop" for new books in our classroom library and the past couple of weeks they have been encouraged to find some fiction and some non-fiction books. We have spent time talking about being readers of non-fiction answering these questions:
- What non-fiction readers notice and learn (I see... I think... I learned...)?
- What is this book teaching me?
- What are the features of a non-fiction text?
- How is my non-fiction book set up? How does it go?
- What have I learned that I can celebrate as a reader?
- What lingo can I anticipate seeing about the topic of my book?
This week we also began our iReady Reading Diagnostic! Everyone seemed pretty calm and I'm happy to report the website has not flagged anyone for rushing (a huge victory)! While we are hoping to see growth, please know that this diagnostic may actually be harder for many than the September version as the expectations rise on this latest diagnostic. I will be reaching out to parents in the coming weeks as the kids finish to let them know if their child has qualified for an Individualized Reading Intervention Plan (IRIP).
Writers' Workshop:
In Writers' Workshop we began 2022 with an "On-Demand" writing assessment. Our writers' were given time over two days to plan and then write their own non-fiction piece on a topic that they consider themselves an expert on! It was interesting for me to go back and read their work and learn all about: how to train a dog, how to make a quesadilla, how to make a grilled cheese, facts about cheetahs and more! Then I took some time to look at the non-fiction features our writers were using and compare those to the lessons ahead for new things we will teach them about writing non-fiction. The remainder of days have been spent with just having a free-write of sorts. Kids have been given ideas of topics to write about, while also enjoying that they could write on any subject/genre this week. Next week we launch our expert writing unit of non-fiction.
Math Workshop:
The last few weeks were spent wrapping up Unit 4 which took a lot of time to look at place value using ones, tens and hundreds as well as short form for base-ten blocks. We learned how to write expanded notation for numbers (i.e. 512 = 500 + 10 + 2) and we reviewed strategies for solving addition facts. We have also learned a new game this week called "Beat the Calculator" which helps with addition fact fluency.
Money, money, money... MONEY!!! Here it comes!! We are moving into a big unit in math all about coins! Please continue to review coins at home with your children. By the end of the unit we will be making change with coins from $1, and many still need help simply recognizing coins and knowing their value.
Social Studies:
We are deep into our geography unit in social studies! We have learned about the features of maps and spent a day looking at all sorts of road maps from our county, state and country! We spent time then creating our own classroom maps complete with map keys and a compass rose. Then we moved onto talking all about how goods and services can move in and out of a community through transportation. We made a giant list of transportation on land, air and water. Lastly we will be talking about the different land-forms that help to shape the land we live on in our community and around our country!
Upcoming Important Dates...
We have A LOT of important dates coming up. Info will come home accordingly closer to each date but I wanted to make you aware of what's coming ahead (so many fun things)!
-Tuesday, January 25th: Half-day of school: Dismissal begins around noon (ish)
-Wednesday, February 2nd: Global Day of Play - more to come soon :-)
-Wednesday, February 9th: Student Count Day (rumored to maybe be a PJ day, no promises yet), Valentine's Day boxes and Valentine's Day cards can start being brought in to school
-Friday, February 11th: Hundreds Day Celebration in 2nd Grade (start to think about your 100s day outfit... I expect to see lots of elderly folks here that day ;-)... Nana Weckstein can't wait to see their outfits)
-Monday, February 14th: Valentine's Day Celebration in 204 (thank you for volunteering to donate all of the ice cream sundae goodies). Feel free to send anything in ahead of time!
-Monday February 21-Friday February 25th - No School - February Break
-Thursday, March 3rd: Second Grade Field Trip - Walled Lake Outdoor Center
